Playcast launches streaming gaming service

Whilst ambitious tech projects OnLive and Dave Perry's Gaikai have been jostling for a share of the headlines, a little-known Israeli company called Playcast has beaten both to the punch by launching a streaming games service in its home country.

Launched in conjunction with cable provider Hot, the pilot service promises the ability to stream PS3 and Xbox 360 quality games through a standard cable set-top box via fibre-optic cable landlines.

The vision of TV games-on-demand is about to come true, enabling new growth opportunities for game publishers and TV operators at minimum investment, as well as an exciting and affordable new gaming experience for hundreds of millions of cable and IPTV viewers around the world.

After four years of development, it's exciting to see our technology transform in to a real user experience. We're delighted that Israel's premier cable network, Hot, has been able to share this vision with us and we're indebted to them for giving us this opportunity to roll out the Playcast service.”

If all goes well it could lead to a rollout into several major markets later this year and early next.